Dave Peregoy: Tipton did not follow his own advice

On April 23, Congressman Scott Tipton wrote in the Steamboat Pilot that any changes to our current healthcare system “should not be rushed through under an artificial deadline.”

On May 3, during a conversation with the staff at his Grand Junction office, I was both lectured to, that Mr. Tipton never takes a position on pending legislation until he has all of the facts, and additionally. that he would not vote on the current version of healthcare reform until he had read the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the current proposal. The nonpartisan CBO evaluates proposed legislation to determine the economic impacts it may have, and their analysis of this piece of legislation has not yet been done.

On May 4, the Republicans in Congress passed their version of a healthcare bill. Mr. Tipton voted to approve this legislation. While we can discuss the pros and cons of this legislation after we have all of the facts, one fact is that Mr. Tipton clearly did not follow his own advice on voting.

This country is politically divided like never before, and actions like we just saw from our elected representative Tipton aren’t helping. It is no wonder that the current approval rating for Congress is at historic lows. Maybe this recess Mr. Tipton will come to this part of his district and conduct a live town hall and explain his actions?